Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Sometimes, overthinking really was a disease.

But Xia Wanzhi had never expected Yun Li to actually hit the nail on the head.

As long as she found a man, she could stay in Beicheng without a hitch.

Xia Wanzhi and Xie Qiyan stared at each other from across the room. The air turned awkward for a few seconds, and Xia Wanzhi had no idea how to explain this ridiculous misunderstanding.

Then again, sometimes going along with a mistake was not necessarily a bad thing.

So Xia Wanzhi moved her lips and asked, tentatively and politely, “Would now work?”

Xie Qiyan paused, clearly not expecting her to actually have that kind of nerve.

The amusement in his eyes deepened bit by bit. “Little Sister Xia, are you setting your sights on me?”

Xia Wanzhi guiltily looked away.

She was setting her sights on him, yes, but not in the way he meant.

“I’m an upstanding citizen. I don’t sell my body,” Xie Qiyan said faintly.

“It’s not like I’m asking you to sell your body,” Xia Wanzhi protested weakly.

“Then what do you want? My heart?” Xie Qiyan’s voice dipped slightly as he walked over at an unhurried pace and sat down across from her. “Once you have my heart, you have my body too. You’re quite clever.”

The corner of Xia Wanzhi’s mouth twitched. “You’re very funny.”

Xie Qiyan smiled faintly. “So are you.”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

After several seconds of silence, Xia Wanzhi gave a light cough. “Would Brother Xie consider it?”

Xie Qiyan never made a losing deal. “I’d be at a great disadvantage.”

“I won’t let you be at a disadvantage,” Xia Wanzhi replied without thinking.

Xie Qiyan watched her. His gaze was far too intense, and Xia Wanzhi lowered her eyes, nervously picking at her fingers.

“You want me to be your boyfriend?” Xie Qiyan asked with precision, placing extra emphasis on the last word as if to underline the key point.

Xia Wanzhi stared blankly at his overly serious expression for a moment, then hurriedly explained, “Not for real. Just pretend. Only for a few days. I absolutely won’t covet your heart, or your… ahem, body.”

Xie Qiyan’s slightly curled fingers abruptly relaxed, and a visible trace of coldness settled over his face. “You wish.”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

This was the first time Xia Wanzhi had ever discussed such a sensitive topic, and with someone she had once disliked, no less. She was embarrassed too. After two dry laughs, she ended the topic and switched to business. “Um, you just said you wanted to make an appointment. I’ll register it for you.”

As if nothing had happened just now, Xia Wanzhi slipped into work mode. “Are you sure you want to paint tomorrow? Are we painting the dream, or painting you? I’m free tomorrow at noon. Are you coming here, or should I go to you?”

Xie Qiyan lowered his eyes slightly, his thoughts unreadable. Only after a long while did he answer, “I’ll come to you.”

Today’s meeting seemed to end on a sour note.

Zhuzi happened to return just then and ran into Xie Qiyan downstairs. Out of curiosity, she asked, “Did President Xie hit a wall with you?”

Xia Wanzhi shook her head. “No.”

“Then why does he look so lifeless?” Zhuzi muttered. Seeing Xia Wanzhi lost in thought, she did not disturb her.

By eleven o’clock the next day, Xie Qiyan still had not arrived. Xia Wanzhi had a leisurely half day. Since she was not busy, she had sent Zhuzi over to Yun Li’s place to help wrap bouquets.

He was probably angry over what happened yesterday and had decided to stand her up. Xia Wanzhi sat cross-legged in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, already mentally prepared to be left waiting.

When she had arrived at the Studio at eight-thirty that morning, she had suddenly discovered that her period had come a week early. Xia Wanzhi had not been prepared, and this unexpected accident had put her in a terrible mood. While grumbling about Old Xia stewing tonic soup every single day, she cursed Xie Qiyan in her heart for deliberately standing her up.

At eleven-ten, Xia Wanzhi got up from the floor and endured the discomfort in her abdomen as she went to lie down on the sofa in the reception area.

After lying there for only a little while, the pain became too much to bear. She called Xie Qiyan to ask if he was still coming.
If he didn’t come, she would go home.

“Wait a little longer. It’s not over yet,” Xie Qiyan said, lowering his voice.

Xia Wanzhi didn’t understand. “What’s not over yet?”

“The meeting.” Xie Qiyan frowned slightly. “Xie Tan didn’t tell you?”

At ten o’clock, just as he was about to head over, a major issue had suddenly come up with one of the overseas projects, requiring an emergency meeting. At the time, when Xie Qiyan called her, the line had shown busy, so he had sent Xie Tan a message asking her to pass the word on to Xia Wanzhi.

Now it seemed Xie Tan hadn’t relayed his message.

Xia Wanzhi was completely lost. “What did Xie Tan say?”

As she spoke, Xia Wanzhi opened WeChat to check whether she had missed any messages.

10:05-

Xie Tan: [Sister Wanzi, my brother said he has an emergency meeting and will come find you later.]

“Um, I didn’t really check my phone today.” Xia Wanzhi gave a light cough. Thinking of how she had called to question him about whether he had stood her up on purpose, she suddenly felt guilty. “It’s fine. You go ahead and handle your work. I’ll wait for you.”

Xie Qiyan’s long, well-defined fingers held a fountain pen. Hearing that, he replied softly, “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

Making someone wait for him was his fault.

After hanging up, Xie Qiyan set the pen in his hand on the desk and motioned for the overseas executives on the large screen to continue.

Everyone in the conference room exchanged looks, each silently guessing who on earth could make Xie Qiyan pause a meeting.

Five minutes later, the meeting ended.

Yu Fei handed the documents in his arms over to Huo Yang, then strode after Xie Qiyan downstairs. They rushed toward Xingyao Building at the fastest speed possible.

Xia Wanzhi hadn’t missed Xie Tan’s message on purpose. Her WeChat account served as both her work and personal account, so after dealing with client messages, she had simply exited WeChat.

But Xie Tan was pinned at the top of her chats.

The fact that she could still miss that message only proved that she was truly in terrible shape today.

Xia Wanzhi sat up and picked up her cup, intending to get herself some hot water. The moment she lifted her eyes, she saw someone standing at the entrance of the Studio.

Caught off guard at being noticed, Zhou Yu’s uneasy gaze flickered away.

“Need something?” Xia Wanzhi’s attitude toward him was indifferent.

Zhou Yu pushed open the glass door and walked in. He took a deep breath. “I heard you’re going abroad. I wanted to come see you.”

Xia Wanzhi looked away and walked straight to the water dispenser to fill her cup. Calmly, she said, “You’ve seen me now. You can leave.”

Instead, Zhou Yu took a few steps forward. “Do things between us really have to be like this? Can’t we even be friends anymore?”

Xia Wanzhi frowned. “Was I not clear enough when we were at your house that day?”

“But we grew up together! Even if we can’t be lovers, we can at least be like we were before.” Zhou Yu’s gaze was urgent. In his panic, he grabbed Xia Wanzhi’s hand tightly.

“Have you forgotten what you did to me?” Xia Wanzhi could never forget that scene. She pulled her hand free with finality. “We can never go back to the way things were.”

Whether it was his betrayal or the way he had violated her boundaries that day, she could not forgive either.

“Are you feeling unwell?” Noticing how pale she looked, Zhou Yu changed the subject and instinctively reached out to touch her forehead.

“Looks like I came at a bad time. Sorry for interrupting Little Sister Xia’s fun.” Xie Qiyan’s low voice sounded from behind them.

At first listen, there was somehow a trace of catty, faux-innocent bite in his words.

Zhou Yu’s back stiffened. Xia Wanzhi happened to step back just then, leaving his hand suspended awkwardly in midair.

Xia Wanzhi’s expression did not change. “No need for your concern, Young Master Zhou. Take care. I won’t see you out.”

Zhou Yu turned around stiffly. When he saw Xia Wanzhi walk over to the storage cabinet, unable to reach something and naturally ordering Xie Qiyan to get it for her, his heart went completely cold.

She no longer needed him.